Custom distributions
A native-image is platform-specific: the binary that runs on Apple Silicon is not the one that runs on Linux x86-64. Vis builds a per-platform distribution for each target and publishes them, so users get a single native binary for their machine — no JVM, no runtime download for the core.
Per-platform matrix
The release builds across the platforms that matter:
| Platform | Target triple |
|---|---|
| Linux x86-64 | x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu |
| Linux ARM64 | aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu |
| macOS ARM64 | aarch64-apple-darwin |
| macOS x86-64 | x86_64-apple-darwin |
The Intel-mac artifact is cross-built on the Apple-Silicon runner (Xcode's SDK is universal) rather than waiting on a scarce Intel runner — fast and reliable.
Native dependencies, split out
Heavy native dependencies follow the same per-platform model rather than bloating one fat artifact. The tree-sitter language pack, for instance, publishes a small main jar plus one native jar per platform (…-native-macos-arm64, …-native-linux-x86_64, …); a resolver selects the right one at runtime, or it's embedded for the native build. The principle: one small portable artifact, plus exactly the native payload your platform needs.
Build once, verify everywhere
Every platform's binary is built and smoke-tested in CI before release. A distribution is never published unless its native build is green on its own platform — so a broken grammar or a missing reachability entry surfaces in CI, not on a user's machine.
